Forever Be My Sunshine
by The immortal sage
Summary: "I want you to be the mother of my children," said Sasuke. A story about the day Sasuke tells Ino that he loves her. Uchiha sure are unconventional. (One shot)


**Forever Be My Sunshine**

Every step that Sasuke took as he walked down the village streets was difficult. He felt as if fifteen men were pulling him back every time he took a step forward.

The villagers sent him wary looks. Others sent him looks of blatant disgust, fear or fear mixed with disgust. Their expressions did not bother him. He was used to them. He had been exposed to them for more than a year now. He also could not find it within himself to care about what these pitiful villagers thought about him. He had stopped caring about their opinions long ago. He had stopped caring even before he had defected from Konoha and became Orichimaru 's student.

He had a sparring match scheduled with the dobe in a few minutes but he desperately needed to do something first. Naruto could wait. The thing he had to do could no longer be ignored.

He had never asked for Naruto 's friendship. He had never wanted it. But somehow along the line Naruto had become his brother. He would die before he admitted to anyone that he considered the dobe as his brother but he acknowledged Naruto as his brother within his heart.

Naruto and him had a deep understanding. One that did not easily come by. He still struggled to find the cause of the bond they had. Maybe it was because Naruto had walked to hell and back in order to get him back on the right path. Maybe it was because they both knew how it was to be alone. Maybe it was the unbending determination that both of them had. Maybe the bond they shared could even be alluded to the fact that they were now the two strongest shinobi in the world. He did not know.

Sasuke 's relationships were pathetic and he knew it. There were only a handful of people he cared about in a meaningful way. There was Naruto, the brother who was not borne of the same parents as him. Then there was the rest of the members of team seven. Kakashi and Sakura.

His relationship with Sakura was strained. She wanted him to care about her in a romantic way but he couldn't. He failed to feel anything beyond platonic feelings for her and that was straining their relationship. He could see in her eyes that she was still waiting for him to love her in the way she wanted.

If he was successful then he would have to break Sakura 's illusion. She deserved to get closure about the relationship that had never even taken off between them. The dobe would give him an earful if Sakura heard from someone else that he was now in a relationship with another woman whereas she believed that it would only be a matter of time before he professed his love for her. He could not afford to throw away one of the few friendships he had in this suffocating village.

A young girl bumped into him as he walked down the dusty streets of Konoha. The kid smiled up at him and apologised with a smile. She had a gap in her smile. She ran off to her friends that had left her behind. The younger generations did not resent him like their parents. He doubted many of them even knew who he was. This gave him the hope that his children would not be outcasts because of their father's ill reputation.

Two years of peace and living in Konoha had changed him. He sometimes caught himself thinking about things he had never had time to waste on during his days as an avenger. He would find himself thinking about the way he would raise his future children, where they would live and what age they would start going to the academy. On some days he foud himself contemplating about life after retirement. He was becoming soft.

He passed came across the overweight Akamichi he had gone to the academy with. Sasuke barely nodded his head in greeting. The Akamichi paused eating from his bag of chips and flashed him an uneasy smile. Sasuke continued on his way. He smirked.If things happened in his favour the Akamichi would be in for a suprise.

Two years had passed since the end of the war. The fallen had been buried and mourned and life had moved on. Some shinobi were still stuck in the past. Some had failed to accept the horror they had experienced and to accept that their fallen comrades were never coming back. Some of the had struggled to cope to an extant that they had been struck off the active shinobi register. Anko Mitarashi was one of them. He passed a man with an amputated arm. Ino had showed the man to him and had told him that the man had lost his arm fighting in the war.

Sasuke had been released from imprisonment a little more than a year ago. He had been pardoned of his crimes against Konoha and the rest of the Shinobi Alliance. The pardon had come with conditions.

One of the conditions was that he had to serve the minimum sentence for his crimes. He had spent the year after the war imprisoned like a worthless animal.

It had taken a lot for Sasuke to accept that condition. It had taken a lot of convincing from the dobe and humbling himself in order for him to accept that condition and not cut off the heads of the kage for proposing such a thing. He was powerful enough to take down half of the kage before they wounded him. They only thing the kage had going for them was that Naruto would stop him from killing them.

There had been two other conditions. The first being that he could not do anything besides C- ranked and D- ranked missions for a year after his release from prison. The second condition was that he could not further than Konoha 's gates for a year after his release. According to them he was supposed to be grateful that his punishment was so light. He did not owe anything to those fools. He had saved the world after all.

Sasuke had found the conditions petty and juvenile. Sasuke had ended up accepting the demeaning conditions anyway. He had been tired of fighting and just wanted to get his life in order. His days as a hate-filled avenger were over. Constantly killing and habouring feelings of hatred, anger and vengeance was not life.

Sasuke arrived at a flower shop. He stood outside the door for a while. He felt the urge to scratch but he was not itching. His palms were sweaty and his legs felt as if he had been running for hours on end.

A blonde haired young woman appeared through the glass. She was standing behind the counter. Her hair was tied into a messy bun. Strands of hair had broken free from the bun and had fallen in front of her face. She was wearing a pair of baggy olive overalls. Sasuke watched her as she used her delicate hand to brush strands of hair behind her ear.

Sasuke looked at his own reflection. A single dark eye stared back at him. His other eye was hidden behind dark strands of hair. He glanced at his outfit. It was an all black outfit. He took a deep breath. The bell rang as Sasuke pushed open the door.

The girl looked up as he entered. She went to what she was doing. She was leaning over the counter and jotting something down in a book. Sasuke walked over to the counter and loomed over her. The girl continued writing.

"Are you just going to hover over me or are you going to greet me Sasuke ?" said Ino. Sasuke remained silent.

"Seven bouquets of red roses...five bouquets of white... four bouquets of marigolds for Tuesday, " Ino mumbled under her breath. Sasuke just stood there with his arms crossed over his chest.

"What do you want Sasuke ? Can't you see I'm busy ? " said Ino. She was still bent over the counter.

"We need to talk, " Sasuke said after a while.

She left the counter and started climbing up the flight of stairs at the corner of the shop. It led to the garden on the roof.

"Can you please give me a hand ? " said Ino as she went up the stairs. Sasuke followed her to the roof.

It was the first time Sasuke had been to the roof of the flower shop. It was a very calming place. There were flowers of different kinds planted there. There was greenery all over. The garden attracted a lot of birds.

Ino directed him to a stack of bags filled with a sandy substance. She told him to move them underneath the shed on the opposite end of the garden. Sasuke carried the bags over to the other side as Ino watered a row of plants. Sasuke waited for her as she finished watering the plants. She walked over to him after she was done.

"What did you want to talk about ? " said Ino. Her hands were on her waist.

Sasuke stared into her large blue eyes for a moment. He shifted his gaze to the sky. It was a cloudless day. The sun was burning in all its fervour. His eyes remained fixed on the sky for a while. He could feel the impatience rolling off Ino.

"Well ? Make it quick Sasuke. I'm busy, " said Ino.

Sasuke took a step closer to her, closing the distance between them. He saw a question forming on her lips. He caught her lips with his before she could say anything. He felt her freeze like a brick. He pulled back. Her blue eyes were wide with astonishment. Ino touched her lips with trembling fingers. She slapped him.

"What is wrong with you ? " said Ino. She could not believe that the Uchiha had just kissed her out of nowhere.

"You are the one, " said Sasuke.

It had been a while since Sasuke had realised that he wanted Ino to be part of his life. He had given it some serious thought. She was the one he wanted. She would be the one to mother his children. He wanted no one but her. She was the one that had given him a reason to wake up in the morning after a long time. He had grown attached to her and could not let go. On days where his nightmares gave him sleepless nights, he often found his thoughts clouded by her. He found himself thinking of her flowery scent, her bright smile, her large blue eyes and her bubbly voice. She was nothing like the woman he had envisioned for himself but she was all he wanted now.

"You're not making sense Sasuke. Please start making sense. Can't you see I'm freaking out? I'm freaking out Sasuke ! " Ino said hysterically.

"Calm down Ino. You don't have to be so loud, " Sasuke said passively.

"Excuse me. Don't tell me to calm down ! You are the one who just showed up and and and just kissed me ! " said Ino. She could not believe the nerve of the Uchiha. How dare he tell her to calm down ?

"I want you to be the mother of my children, " said Sasuke. His eyes were glued to hers.

"Are you asking me out ? Is that your way of asking me out ! Just randomly kissing me and then telling me you want me to be the mother of your children ? " shouted Ino.

"I'm not asking you out, " replied Sasuke.

"Then what are you doing ? " Ino shouted.

Sasuke captured her lips once again. He put his hands on her lower back and pulled her body closer to his chest. Her hands moved up to his chest to push him away. It was as if Ino forgot that she wanted to push him away when her hands sat on his chest.

Ino was still not responding but she became less tense. Sasuke started kissing her with greater intensity. Ino felt his racing heart beneath his black shirt. They pulled away for breath. Ino looked up into his eyes. The look in his eyes made her shudder in his arms. They were the eyes of a man that was filled with a starved desperation.

"I'm not asking you out on a silly date. I'm telling you that I want every part of you. I'm telling you that I want you to be mine forever," said Sasuke.

"I want to revive my clan and make it greater than it was ever before with you by my side."

Ino was at a loss for words. She was flabbergasted by Sasuke 's words. She tried to respond but the words were stubbornly refusing to leave her throat. It was silent for a long while. The sound of their raging hearts and the chirping of the birds was the only audible sound.

"Why does it sound to me like you are asking me to marry you ? " Ino said softly.

"That's because I am, " replied Sasuke. Ino 's heart stopped.

"But that's not the way it's supposed to work. You are supposed to ask me on a first date then our relationship is supposed to gradually become more serious. Then one day we confess our love for one another and then you ask me to marry you a few months after that. There is a formula for this and the formula works," said Ino.

"You are supposed to propose to me on a candlelight dinner underneath the stars. And when that happens I'm not supposed to be dressed in overalls and smelling of sweat, " continued Ino.

"I don't care about that. I want to marry you," said Sasuke. Ino 's heart jumped at hearing him actually say that he wanted to marry her.

Ino would have suspected that he was intoxicated had his breath been smelling of alcohol. The absence of the smell of alcohol and his sober eyes indicated that he was not intoxicated.

"Why me ? " asked Ino.

"Because to you I'm just Sasuke and nothing else. Because you are everything good thing that I am not. You don't fear me or hate me neither do you worship the ground I walk on ," said Sasuke.

"You challenge me. You don't bend down to what I say. Being around you made me remember what it is to be happy, " Sasuke continued. He intertwined their hands and brought them to his heart.

"You complete me. "

Life was Ironic. For most of her childhood Ino had been in love with Sasuke. The idea of Sasuke atleast. As time moved on and with him being away from the village, her childish infatuation had faded. When she had seen him after his release, a year after the war, she had not seen the lover of her childhood fantasies. She had seen a broken man who needed a friend.

He had been a broken man when he had been released. Whenever she saw him she would notice the look in his eyes. It was as if he was constantly lost and did not know where he was going. It seemed as if he was drifting through life without a purpose. It was as if life had lost its meaning and he was just carrying on living for the sake of Naruto and his teammates who would be devastated if he died. It had been a sad existence.

The great fearsome Uchiha had been reduced to a lost man with little to live for. The realisation had broken her heart. It was hard to see a man that had once been so driven in such a state.

Ino had resolved to help alleviate his condition. She had realised that having one more friend would help him. Even if it would be just by a tiny bit. So she had vowed to befriend Sasuke. At first Sasuke had treated her as if she was a nuisance or an insect that was not worth his attention. Despite that, Ino had been patient with him. She had constantly seeked him out just so she could talk to him. He had been cold towards her for the first weeks but she had kept on persisting. She would even invite him to the get-togethers that Team 8 and Team 10 had.

She had somehow started getting through to him. She did not remember when Sasuke had started seeking out her company instead of her being the one that always seeked out for him. She had been happy that he had accepted her as his friend.

Whenever they were together they would talk about everything and anything. Well, it was her that did most of the talking. They also argued most of the time.

There were a number of times where Sasuke had opened up to her about personal issues about his past. He had even shared with her a memory he had of his mother. He was now much less of a mystery to her than he had been a few years ago.

Sometimes they would merely sit in silence and not say a word. Ino had one day realised that Sasuke had become one of the closet men in her life. She had learned a lot about him in the past year. She had discovered what ticked him off and the things he liked. She had even discovered that tomatoes were his favourite food.

Ino felt Sasuke pull her into a kiss once again. She felt tremors in her core and goosebumps rise on her skin. She allowed herself to respond just a bit. His kisses were no longer soft and gentle like they had been initially. They were now desperate and hungry. She felt his fingers dig deeper into her lower back. His fingers burned like fire. He pulled away. She looked up at him. She felt her cheeks burning. He flashed a devilish smirk. She looked away, not wanting to give him the satisfaction.

As the months had gone by Ino had noticed a change in Sasuke. He began looking less and less like a man that had no reason to live. He started looking less like a walking corpse. He had started looking almost happy. The realisation had warmed her heart.

Sasuke made her feel alive. He kept up with her. He wasn't intimidated by her personality. He challenged her, kept her on her toes. Being with Sasuke made her forget about her dead father , the pain of his death and the tremendous gap his death had created in their lives. Sasuke had become her escape from reality. A shelter from the hardships of life. A steady rock she could lean on when she was feeling weak. Being in his presence had become an addiction.

In her heart Ino knew the truth. She knew she felt something deep for Sasuke. It had been growing for months now. She knew it was there. She had just never been brave enough to call it by its name. Not even in her heart. It was love.

After getting over her childhood infatuation Sasuke, Ino had never considered going into a romantic relationship with Sasuke despite how close they grown. All along she had been seeing him as a wounded soul that needed someone to smile at him and talk to him. He had grown on her. She cared for him. Much more than she admitted to herself. Now she was being forced to face the truth.

Life was ironic. She had fallen for Sasuke. Unlike in her childhood, she had not fallen for an unrealistic construct she envisioned in her mind. She had fallen for the actual man. A broken man with a haunted past. A man with with a bloody past. A man with many regrets. A man that was filled with darkness. A man with many faults that had decided to try to do better somewhere along the way. An infuriating man that could get under her skin like nobody else.

He was the man that was somehow always able to put a smile on her face. The man who she could always be herself around. The man she was comfortable baring her soul to. The man she told her hopes and her dreams to. The man she shared her insecurities with. The man who showed a genuine interest in what was going on in her life. The man who was concerned about her wellbeing even though he tried to hide it. The man who would be waiting for her close to the village gates whenever she came back from a mission and then pretend that he had come across her through pure coincidence.

It was funny how she had fallen for him for real when she had stopped trying to be with him. Befriending Sasuke had never been about trying to make him fall for her.

"This is literally the craziest and most impulsive thing I have ever done in my life," mumbled Ino. Sasuke 's eyes never shifted from her own. Ino felt her heart race because of what she was about to say next. Anxiety and self consciousness spread through her body like a forest fire.

"I'll marry you, " said Ino.

Sasuke showed no reaction. He was enchanted by her large blue eyes. He heard her speak but her words did not register in his mind.

"What ? " Sasuke said nonchalantly.

Impatience and annoyance appeared in Ino 's eyes.

"You asked me to marry you. I said I'll marry you. What you don't want to marry me now ? " Ino said in annoyance. Sasuke heard the anxiousness hidden beneath the annoyance.

Sasuke captured her lips with his. She felt all his emotions pour into the kiss. There was one thing that she felt as they kissed. This was meant to be. She felt home in his arms. They soon broke apart. She looped her arms around his neck.

"We haven't even been on a single date, " mumbled Ino.

"Ino I'm not intending to play around. If you're not willing for such a serious relationship you can back out now, " said Sasuke.

"I gave my heart to you a long time ago. I just had not realised it. Just like you said to me, I want all of you," said Ino. She watched as a rare smile spread on Sasuke 's face.

"Just don't play with me Sasuke. I wouldn't be able to handle it if you broke my heart, " said Ino.

"Never, " said Sasuke.

Sasuke placed his head on top of hers. He took in her scent. He loved the sound of her heartbeat. He felt all the anxiety that had been building up for the last two months flow out of his body. It had taken two whole months for him to tell her about his feelings after deciding to do so. The fear of rejection and losing what they had caused him to be reluctant about coming clean about his feelings.

She was his sunshine. His sunny place. And now she was his and his alone. Very few things could stop the happiness he was currently experiencing. He was not feeling the emptiness he had felt when he had killed Danzo or when Itachi had finally died.

"Here I thought you were working and yet I find you getting all lovey dovey with a boy, " said a voice.

Sasuke and Ino separated. Sasuke was not happy that they had been interrupted. He kept his arm on Ino 's waist as they faced the intruder. It was Mrs Yamanaka.

"Mom I have something I to tell you, " Ino began nervously.

"That you're now dating the last Uchiha ? " said Ino 's mother.

"Well..." said Ino.

"Wait. Is it something even bigger than that ? " Mrs Yamanaka said worriedly. Her eyes were wide open.

"Oh Ino please don't tell me you are pregnant ! " said Mrs Yamanaka.

"Mom ! " Ino said in embarrassment. An awkward moment passed. Ino had still not said anything.

"We are getting married, " Sasuke said with a smirk.

Authors 's Note

Thank you for reading. Please review. Check out my multi chapter book " Life with Gaara" on my profile.

{The Immortal Sage}


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